How to mend your fraying Smokejumper Belt

I bought an outstandingly well made Smokejumper belt from Best Made Company.
This belt is made of kevlar and nomex, has a hot-forged parachute harness D-ring as a buckle and, well, let's just say that I'll probably break before the belt does.

The one flaw with the belt was the end of the webbing - it started to fray pretty quickly. I don't have a sewing machine capable of getting through this fabric, so needed another way to prevent the end from fraying any further.

Here's a quick 'ible showing how to repair it with some superglue.

You will need:
• Your belt (this will work with any fabric belt that's fraying at the end)
• Superglue - doesn't need to be anything fancy, for the purposes of this exercise, superglue is superglue.
• A sharp blade
• Some clamps or a vice (or a really steady hand)

Step 1:

You can see the end of the belt starting to fray in this shot - this is after I've trimmed it up a bit to neaten it, but it'll keep getting worse if left unchecked.

Comments

[MartinMakes]

Good one.

[sodiumcanine]

Had to take in some slack in my Tac-Belt known as a "Rig" on the Tallships
I work on. Used superglue for the frayed edge. I use it with an Amsteel tether
I spliced and has kept me from going by the board a few times. It was a blend
of kevlar and nylon.

Link to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB0Dfmfxf-M

[ilpug]

If this is nylon or something like it, you can melt the frayed end with a match.

[kai.h]

No, not any nylon here, and there's the problem!
The belt is made from a blend of Kevlar and Nomex. They're both synthetic aramid fibres, with Kevlar providing high tensile strength and Nomex providing flame resistance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevlar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomex

It's very difficult to cut and impossible to melt. The belt is completely and totally over-engineered, and that's just the way I like it ^_^

[ilpug]

Ahh, I see your point.

Sounds like a belt I would appreciate.

[sgt_eldridge]

nice article, here is a link to some less expensive belts with more color options. This is the belt I use everyday. It has saved my life once or twice lol.

[kai.h]

The link didn't come through...